Post Ride Commentary

Well we've been back for 5 days now and it seems strange not riding everyday. My bike arrived back from JOG this morning and the rest of my luggage came this afternoon (thanks Jane). I've had a day off work as I'm working at the weekend, so I've been busy sorting out my kit and my bike.

 After re-assembling the bike it was given a good clean and treated to new wheels, cassette and chain and pedals. I also fitted a Brookes B17 saddle which I bought s/hand before we went but didn't have time to break in.

 While cleaning the bike I noticed the middle chainring was missing a tooth, presumably its lying on the road somewhere along our route. Anyway a new chainring is also on order. I also managed a short ride this evening to check everything was back in order (for me and my bike).

If your reading this and contemplating doing LeJog or any similar ride yourself there are lots of Blogs and sites out there which give tips and advice and are well worth reading but I thought I would add a few of my own:

1. The more miles and distance you cover in training the easier the trip will be.
2. Train in all conditions to test your kit and acclimatise yourself.
3. If you plan to use a GPS on the trip use it during your training and learn to use all its features including the mapping and routing options.
4. B&Bs will often do washing for you but it may be a communal wash so either mark your kit or make a list of what you have. If you put a Peak Tours top in a communal wash you probably won't get the same one back again.
5. Eat plenty, especially at breakfast, consider additional food breaks between the official stops on long legs. Five miles to a lunch or brew stop may not seem far, but your sugar levels can drop quickly and then you start making mistakes and navigational errors.
6. Sealzkin socks are great for keeping your feet dry in wet cycling shoes, consider taking 2 pairs.
7. On a supported tour put as much extra dry kit and layers in your day bag as you can. You're not carrying it so the extra weight doesn't matter. If you don't need it you've lost nothing, but if you're cold and wet, being able to add an extra layer or two the last leg of the ride could make all the difference.
8. B&Bs often leave several small packets of biscuits on the coffee tray in your room. These are an ideal size for slipping in jersey pockets and are a convenient and tasty snack for those mid point breaks (see 5).
9. B&B hair driers can be used to dry out wet cycling shoes, gloves and other kit.
10. Read as many blogs and web sites as you can for hints and tips.

Overall enjoy yourself. Cycling, whether End to End or any other ride, is a great sport and an ideal way of seeing towns and the countryside.

The 14 days we spent riding from one end of the country to the other was a truly fantastic experience, we cycled through different places and landscapes each day in the company of a great group of people and finished our ride with a real sense of achievement.

What we'll do next I'm not sure? I'd like to go back to Normandy in 2015 but a Coast to Coast also sounds interesting, either would be great but we'll be hard pushed to top LeJog as a life experience.

Photos (3)

Day 10 riding alongside the River Clyde through Glasgow

Day 10, Aled, Graham (guide), Dave and Jane in the centre of Glasgow

Day 11, Aled, Niv (guide) and Jane at Glen Coe

Day 12, Graham summits Fort Augustus Climb - 398 metres

Day 13, about to descend to Bonar Bridge for lunch

Team Lanterne Rouge at the Finnish Post

Marj addresses the Haggis at the Celebration Dinner

Photos (2)

Day 5, 3 mile forest track detour into Clun!!!!!

Day 6, The new Cycling sandals and bandaged leg

Day 7 Jen and Steve at the afternoon brew stop

Day 8 arriving in the Lake District

Day 9 Crossing the border into Scotland

Some More Photos

Preparing to set off

Dave (Mountie) Varga, Cremyll day 2

Jane and Jen, Cornwall day 2

Crossing the Avon Gorge on the Clifton Suspension Bridge Day 4

The last 75 miles

Team Lantern Rouge, Aled, Jonathon, Jane, Phil and John, passed the Crask Inn on Friday evening and rode a further 7 miles in wet and windy conditions to Altnahara. We had a normal 7:30 breakfast and were on our bikes and pedalling by 8:15. This head start meant we were first to arrive at the morning brew stop and the first sign for John O'Groats.



The tandem finally caught up with us at our 28 mile mark while we were sat at the side of the road having admiring the scenery, the rest of the group started cathching us when we stopped for lunch and by the 68 mile mark the group had resumed normal positions at which point everyone stopped and waited so we could complete the ride together.










Setting out as a group Rick and Matt led, skilfully holding the pace to keep us all in position, then as we reached the final turn John took the lead and headed us along the finale 1.3 miles to the Finnishing Line and the John O'Groats sign post.


The feeling of finalling arriving was absolutely fantastic; 14 days of riding, 1012 miles, 15048 metres of climbing, and loads of brew stops. Everyone in the group has been great company, and the support of the guides has been invaluable.

One final thought: I've had a full cooked breakfast nearly every morning and have eaten continuously & copioiusly throughout the trip. I started out weighing 80Kg. Have just got on the scales and I weigh 80Kg.

Tour completed, bikes packed away ready for courier to return to portsmouth for us.
Just had celebration group dinner, complete with speeches and thank yous. Feels great to have cycled from one end of the country to the other. Haz been hard at times, especially when weather has been not so good, but overall a fantastic experience and cant speak highly enough of Peak Tours.

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Arrived john o'groats

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Full cooked breakfast including black pudding and haggis has seen us nicely along the first 38 miles. Currently stopped for lunch at Melvich then onward to the finnish post.

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Day 14, The Final Push

07:00 We're up showered, dressed, bags sorted and ready for breakfast, in an hour we set out for the last ride which all being well should see us arriving at John O'Groats late afternoon. The B&B has been great. Despite being in a very remote part of the Scottish Highlands the owners, Mandy and her husband, are Welsh and English respectively, originally from Wallingford in Oxfordshire they told us they sold up, bought a motorhome and travelled the country before ending up here 11 years ago. There guests are almost exclusively cyclists doing LeJog or JogLe, and they've got it well sorted, bikes put away for us, drying room for our kit, superb food and generally very well looked after.

Although we've still got 75 miles of riding ahead of us we are 7 miles further up the road from the rest of the group giving us a head start. They will undoubtbly start to catch us by the brew stop and lunch, but a plan is in place for the whole group to finnish the ride together.

Will try and post again from John O'Groats.

LeJog Penultimate Day

Another cold day, we set out from Inverness well wrapped up and with spare layers in our day bags. Now the tour is nearly over we are starting to get into a well oiled routine.

Getting ready for the morning briefing in Inverness

We again cycled through fantastic scenery which, once the first few towns were behind us, became increasingly remote. Anyone doing LeJog unsupported would need to be confident in their ability, their bike and their emergency repair skills for this end of the trip. Interestingly while mobile reception and wifi has often been tricky in more populated areas both seem to be fine up here with nothing around us but countryside!

After lunch the weather went from cold to cold and wet, something we're used to by now. The trick is to just keep turning the pedals and stop every few miles for flapjack, biscuits or fruit jellies.

Late afternoon we arrived at the Crask Inn were some of the group are staying, others were bused back to Lairg and return to the Crask tomorrow morning. Team Lanterne Rouge had to ride another 7 miles to Altnahara were we are staying in a B&B. Altnahara comprises a few houses, a hotel our B&B and a farm, so Mandy the owner has provided supper for us, which along with a case of beer we bought along has made for a pleasant evening. The beer was a bit heavy in my panniers though!!!! 

The upside of a slightly longer ride today (73 miles) is that we have a shorter ride to the finnishing post tomorrow and get a head start on the rest of the group. The plan is that all 26 riders will regroup 7 miles out from John O'Groats and finnish the ride together. Forecast for toworrow is for better weather, so all being well it will be a pleasant last days riding.

Hair drier in b&b put to good use and kit dried as best we can. Fuelling up on cooked breakfast before departing inverness and heading to upper base camp ready for fonal push to the summit tomorrow. Weather currently dry but wind and rain forecast.

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Day 12, Why?

Today would have been a nice day for sitting inside drinking coffee, reading the paper and surfing the net, but we're on a silly quest to cycle the UK End to End so that wasn't an option for us.

With 83 miles to cover we started off with a fierce head wind all morning, there were white horses on the Lochs and in places we were having to drop to our granny rings to make progress on the flat. The first brew stop was at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge were we recharged and pressed on. It was a day when it was imnportant to keep swapping who was on front and took the brunt of the wind and made the riding a bit easier for those behind.

After lunch we had a 6 miles ascent of nearly 400 metres which, if you were daft enough, you could time yourself on for a Peak Tours King of the Mountains challenge. I was daft enough, although I knew full well I was never in contention. The peak tours record is 27 minutes for a client and 25 minutes for a guide. I think my climbing has got stronger over the last 10 days and was hoping for a time under 45 minutes! Picture Left is looking back down the hill.


Picture Right is my bike at the top of the climb, the climb is behind and stretched out in front the road down to the Falls of Foyers. Over lunch the wind eased and the rain started. All we could do was add layers and keep pedalling.

We're now in a warm B&B, we've had a fish and chip supper in our room, with our kit spread out around us to dry.

Tomorrow we head for Crask and position ourselves for the final push to JOG.

Pictures from Day 11 Wed 21/5/14

08:40 prepping selfs and bikes for 83 mile run to inverness
Bit of light rain hopefully the weather will hold off for us, 3 more days to go.

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Arrived Glen Coe. Last 10 miless particularly tiring as intona strong headwind and long winding road in front of us which seemed to strrtch out forever. Scenery stunning, beautiful mountains many with snow still on their upper reaches, streams running over rocks through the gulleys and valley floors, you just don't get cycling like this in hampshire!
Tomorrow we head past Fort William and head for inverness. John says one of best birthdays he's ever had.


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Stopped for lunch midway to Glen Coe. Some great riding alongside loch lommond although some busy and crowded road sections as well. Starting to see patches of snow on the gullys higher up on the hills.

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Birthday Ride
Today is Johns birthday and to celebrate we're goong to cycle from Balloch along Loch Lommond to glen Coe.
Forecast for next few days not great but rain is moving northwards so hopefully will stay ahead of us and tailwinds will help us on our way.

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Changing Landscapes

Yesterday we cycled out of the Lake District and into the Scottish Borders, today we left the borders and headed the Highlands via Glasgow. We're on day 10 and the sense of satisfaction that the trip provides can be hard to put into words, but I'll try anyway. This morning we set out from Moffat, climbing a hillside with views of the valley beside us, we then crossed over into the next valley and slowly descended towards the floor of the valley with fabulous view of a river and the M74 running through the valley and stretching out ahead of us. After lunch we crossed Glasgow, initially following roads through the peripheral towns then picking up a cycle way that took us all the way through, first following the banks of the Clyde, then the Forth and Clyde Canal and finally the river Leven. Occassionally we emerged into an area of Glasgow giving us a climpse of the city then we were back on our cycle path again. Although it was another 80 miler this one seemed easier, perhaps we're getting fitter or better organised with our break stops. Todays pictures are of John falling off of a bike and the brew stops which help us keep going each day.

Passed through glasgow and arrived loch lommond
80 miles ridden today, have wifi so hope to update blog later

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Photos from Day 9

Reaching the top of the 15 mile climb out of Keswick

Arriving in Scotland

Finnishing the day with a puncture

We have wifi in guest house but appears dAta is transfered by carrier pidgeon so sorry pictures will have to wait
Long days cycle ride and late pm puncture means very tired
Longer day tomorrow through glasgow and on to loch lomond
Ate supper in uks narrowest hotel this evening

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Have arrived in scotland. Blog update to follow later

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Have arrived in scotland. Blog update to follow later

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Just climbed continously 15 miles out of keswick and stopped on top of hill at brew van. Lake district behind us scotlAnd in front
Will reach the border after lunch, passports ready and have told mounties to watch outfor haggis crossing the roads


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Last night was a hostel night for us again (1 of 4) and we stayed in kedwick yha, situated in a great spot middle of town overlooking the river. Accomodatio and restaurant are fine, we shared a 3 bedded room with steve another rider in our group and were able to put some washing on and tumble dry it. Only complaint is being on 3rd floor, not really kind to legs that have cycled 450+miles!!!
We got a wifi connection which allowed us to update strAva, althoigh not withoit some diffoculty as johns garmin has opted to save the last 3 days rides as on file rather than daily files. We sorted it and reset the archive option so should be okay now.
At the moment we're waiting for the restUrant to open for breakfast, need to fuel up well as we've got a 5 mile climb out of keswick, then we head towards scotland and lunch at gretna.

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LeJog Day 8

Arrived in Keswick, 8 days done 7 to go, reach mid distance and Scotland tomorrow

Team Lanterne Rouge Niv (guide), Jane, John, Jonathon, Phil, Graham (guide), Aled

John Summits the final hill into Keswick followed in hot pursuit (!) by Graham

LeJog Day 6, 15/5/14, The Industrial North

(Loaded out of sync due to lack of wifi)

Today we managed to get another 80 miles behind us which brings us to the Industrial North. It was a long days cycling, and again plenty to see along the way as we wended our way through towns and villages. It was only after we had descended for other a mile down a long winding road into a valley that I appreciated how high up we had been at Clun. We crossed the Shropshire Union Canal twice before reaching Runcorn where we encountered motorways and a more industrial landscape.The whole group is booked into the holiday inn tonight, with our bikes filling one of their conference rooms.

News from the Sailing Club is that the Vice Commodore is wanting to know where Phil is as his absence for the last 7 days was not authorised. If anyone reading this sees Larry would you be kind enough to tell him I've been really busy at work and not mention that I'm on an End to End Cycling Trip!

LeJog Day 5, 15/5/14, Cycle Toe, Forest Trails and Leg Dressings

(posted out of sync due to lack of wifi)

In retrospect it might have been my fault! Earlier in the afternoon as we neared our last Brew Stop I was pondering that if I wasn't cycling I would be at work and at that time of day we usually start getting the calls that you know are going to make your late finish even later; “Can you come out and put a dressing on Mrs Browns leg?”

At the Brew Stop were told Andrew and Jill, the Tandemmers, had almost reached Clun only to be thwarted by a road closure and Navvies who insisted no one was coming past, not evening cyclists on their way to John O'Groats.

The alternatives; a 10 mile very hilly diversion by road, or a 4 mile route through a hillside forest following a steep muddy trail. Andrew and Jill chose the forest trail an were even good enough to leave markers for the follow “cyclocross” riders. It was a real struggle s we manhandled our bikes up and over trail, with us and our bikes ending up caked in mud. Our group ended up with four tired and cross riders and one cut leg where it got whacked by a pedal. So in the end I did end up cleaning and dressing a leg wound and getting home late, fortunately it doesn't need to be recorded on RIO as there is no internet or phone signal in Clun.

Tomorrow we head for Runcorn stopping en route to buy some new shoes (why not?).

P.S. any comments, statements, Jokes etc, that you don't understand should be made clear at the end of our trip when we will add a LeJog Uncut Blog

Arrived in the lake district at lunchtime. Scenery is spectacular, hills long and steep. Phil managed to miss a turn and ride an extra 3 miles and 2 hills before realising and turning back. John spottedistake much sooner so only rodd an extra mile.
Sat having coffee break under Helvelen then onwards to youyh hostel to threshen up amd well earmed rest.

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We've now reached the midpoint of the tour and Team Lanterne Rouge now comprises 6 core members; John, Jonathon, Aled, jane & Phil, and of course Graham and Niv our cycling guides one of whom is always following up at the back to check we all arrive home. Team photo will follow as soon as we encounter wifi again. In true Tdf style TLR has the occassional breakaway rider but its suprising how quickly we all regroup at the brew stops and lunch stops.

Tomorrow me head for the lakes so we'll start to encounter hills again but there should be some great scenery to go with it. We will also hit the half way mileage sometime in the afternoon, after which the distance we still have to go will be less than the distance already ridden.

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Day 7, sat 17th may

Now out of runcorn and into lancashire, pleased to leave the busy towns and traffic behond for a while. Made good progressed and arrived at lunch stop before food was actually ready for once.
Chances of arriving at b&b early probably 50/50 but we are stopping a few miles early owing to accomodation change
Wising sbsc good luck with turks trophy

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Day 6 now behind us. WiFi at holiday inn hopeless so fuller update from days 5 & 6 still to follow. M
Now in runcorn, but if you're reading this and now larry please don't tell home, evidently our absence did not have v/commodore approval;)
441 miles completed but still a lot to go and therr are rumours of hills in the lake district being circulated around the group.

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Update from clun

Arrived in clun later than expected, road closure forced to take difficult offroad route for last 3 miles due to complete road closure. Eventually arrived tired, 26 very muddy bikes, one cut leg.
We're here now, 331 miles done, 754 to go.
True to form no phone signal or wifi here, so this update will come through when we get in range, with fuller report from runcorn tonight.

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14/15 May, Sleeping in Low Gear

The day time routine of the last few hilly days has been high gears for the descents, then dropping into your lowest gear for another climb. Yesterday we had one big climb late in the morning then the terrain levelled off. That is until we booked into our Hotel Room! The floor has a very definite sloop from one corner where the TV is to the bathroom in the opposite corner. With our tired legs we're staggering round the room like a couple of drunks!

If we can manage to get from our beds to our kit bags at the high end of the room we'll get ourselves ready for the 58 mile ride to Clun.

LeJog Day 4, 14/5/14, Into Wales (Just)

After 3 days of slogging over hills and across moors in the rain and the cold we had a much more enjoyable ride today. Flatter terrain, sunshine and a more modest distance meant our run from Glastonbury to Monmouth was more of tour. That was perhaps our problem, a large group of us ended up making so many sight seeing stops in Wells and Bristol that it was 3pm before we reached the lunch stop and 5pm before we got to the afternoon brew stop. On the way we crossed over the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Severn Road Bridge. We stopped on the middle of the Severn Bridge to experience how much it shook as traffic thundered past us.

The days ride also gave us our first puncture as we descended a hill towards Chew Valley Lake. A quick pit stop saw it repaired and we were on our way again.

Our blog is 1 of 2 for the group so for an alternative perspective why not take a look at:

www.janesbigtrip.blogspot.co.uk

 

LeJog Day 3, 13/5/14, Peace and Love Man

No cooked breakfast today, it's strictly DIY in the Backpackers Hostel, after we've stripped our own beds that is. Then we start the day with a big climb out of Moretonhampstead before heading for Exeter. The ride evoked more memories as it took us past Bowhay Lane, where Phil lived until he was 9.

That meant he was in charge of navigating the group he was with across the Exe Bridge and through to the other side of Exeter. It was a relief to arrive at the other side with everyone still present and correct. There was one more big hill after lunch, after which the terrain levelled off, which along with the sun coming out made riding a lot easier. Glastonbury was still a welcome sight, we are now booked into a very new age B&B, who are looking after us very well and have even been kind enough to do some laundry for us. Off to Bristol tomorrow then into Wales so it feels like we're making progress.

Day 2, Mon 12th, May Peregrines, Wild Moors & Sparrowhawks

Day 2 of our LeJog is now completed leaving only 12 days and 957 miles to go. The theme of todays ride was hills. Cornwall wasn't letting us go without showing us what it had, and we were constantly up and down all morning, but got some cracking views from the road along the cliff tops to Mount Edgcumbe, Plymouth to our left and the Sea to our right. 34 years ago I trekked along those roads in my Royal Navy Basic Training, so the ride bought back some memories.

We crossed from Cornwall to Devon on the Cremyl Ferry, had a flat ride through Plymouth before heading up through the Plym Valley, stopping to look at a nesting Peregrine on the way, then a long hard slog across Dartmoor. If this wasn't challenge enough we had intermittent rain showers through the day, a hail storm in Plymouth and sleet on the moor.

Arriving in Moretonhampstead we are booked into Sparrowhawks Backpackers hostel. Sleeping in 14 bedded dorm, showers & toilets across the courtyard, DIY breakfast. It's an interesting place, but were all tired enough that anywhere with a bed is fine.

Tomorrow sees us head across Devon and in Somerset where the ride levels off a bit and we can say goodbye to big hills for a little while.

Two Exhausted Cyclists Complete Day 1

It's been a long day, but 1 down so only 13 more to go! Don't be fooled by the sign post 874 is the shortest route by road, our route is 1084 miles. Today we rode from the YHA at St Just to Lands End for photos then set of for Fowey. The morning was relatively easy with a strong tail wind pushing us along. After lunch the hills got a little steeper, the wind was more from the side and fatigue started to set in as the day progressed. We were might pleased to crest a hill and see the brew van mid afternoon.

Total Mileage for today 70.4 miles. Wanted to include something funny about the day, but John says there was nothing humurous about today!!!

Tomorrow we leave Cornwall and head for Moretonhampstead via Plymouth and a little climb across Dartmoor.

We've arrived at St Just. Youth Hostel doesn't open until 5pm so currently sat in cafe drinking coffee. Decision as to who takes top bunk will be made using scissors paper stone. Very windy here in cornwall but providing direction stays the same it should push us along nicely tomorrow.

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Wet Weather Gear Packed

Our kit is all packed and in a few hours we'll be starting the journey to Cornwall. Cycling conditions are perfect at the moment, 23 mph winds and the rain is easing off to a steady downpour!

A part of our training strategy has been to go out in all conditions (a tip we picked up from another blog) resulting in what looked like very odd behavior in the months before we admitted what we were actually up to. Come to think of it, it was probably still odd once people knew we were planning to ride LeJog.

Looks we'll have rain for at least the first few days of our trip.

On the plus side Debbie has made us a mountain of flapjack which is all packed up in my rucksack and panniers ready to fuel us over the Cornish Hills and Dartmoor.

No cycling yesterday but I did test the flapjack (well you have to do some training). I can confirm it is gooey, sticky and delicious.